SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 50-year-old Yellowknife man charged with violently sexually assaulting his step-daughter pled guilty to the offence in Supreme Court on June 17.

"I apologize to (the complainant). I'm very sorry for what I did. I was under the influence of alcohol. It was out of character," the man said at his sentencing hearing last week after pleading guilty.

He is now jailed while awaiting his sentence, knowing the Crown wants him sent to prison for four to five years.

The sexual assault occurred on Jan. 4, 2010, when his 35-year-old stepdaughter was in Yellowknife visiting her mother, said Crown prosecutor Duane Praught. That evening, while the woman's mother was away on business, the two were playing cards, drinking beer and listening to music. A sexually inappropriate comment from the man led to an argument. The stepdaughter became angry and threw her drink in his face. He responded by punching her in the face, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on a bookcase, Praught told the court.

When the complainant regained consciousness, she found herself lying on her stomach on the man's bed without pants or underwear. The man was having intercourse with her without a condom.

After the sexual assault, the man got up and went into the living room to watch TV while the woman fell asleep around 9 p.m.

She filed a complaint with the RCMP on Jan. 20, 2010. On May 10, 2010, the man was charged with sexual assault.

After the offender's guilty plea, the Crown dropped a second charge of sexual assault involving the same woman for an attack that allegedly occurred in December 2008 in Yellowknife.

Even though the man had no prior criminal record, Praught explained that based on similar cases and the level of violence and the familial relationship between the offender and the complainant, an appropriate sentence would be in the range of four to five years in prison.

The man's lawyer, Caroline Wawzonek, described her client as an educated and hard worker who overcame difficult conditions growing up on a reserve in Alberta with an alcoholic father. Wawzonek submitted three letters of support for the man, including one from the complainant's mother, who wrote she forgave her husband of the past 15 years for his actions. Wawzonek said an appropriate jail sentence would be in the range of 18 to 24 months.

Justice Louise Charbonneau adjourned sentencing until July 8 at 11 a.m. to give her more time to review the case. The man was taken into custody after Charbonneau also revoked the man's bail given the guilty plea.

Yellowknifer is not identifying the offender as doing so could also identify the complainant, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

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